Giveaway: Homemade Living Books

We’re nearing the end of our month’s worth of giveaways for National Craft Month. Lark Crafts generously offered several book titles to our readers with a new book giveaway each week.

This week Lark brings us Homemade Living: Home Dairy and Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving, both with Ashley English. Have you ever wanted to learn how to make cheese? Or your own butter and ice cream? How about tackling your fear of canning? From necessary equipment all the way down to tasty recipes, there’s plenty in these books to keep you busy!

HOW TO ENTER
Simply leave a comment on this post and tell us me if you’ve ever made your own cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or butter. Or you can tell me if you’ve ever tried canning, and if not, what’s holding you back! Tell us all about it before March 30th at midnight CST!

ELIGIBILITY
As much as we would love to include our Canadian and international friends I’m afraid this giveaway is restricted to those with a U.S. mailing address. If you live outside of the U.S. but have an address within the U.S. that we can ship to then you’re in! Otherwise, we truly apologize. You must be 18 or older to enter. Winner will be randomly selected on March 31st and notified via email. Winner will have 72 hours to respond with their shipping address, otherwise an alternate winner will be drawn. Good luck!

Please note, all prizes will be shipped at the conclusion of our National Craft Month celebration. Winners should allow 4-6 weeks for delivery after April 1, 2011.

I entered on the last one too and didn’t win…maybe this time. I love her books I have read the chicken one 3 times and will be getting my chicks in just a couple weeks!! I’m all about being as self-sufficient as I can!

I remember visiting my grandmother when I was young and going down into her cool basement to marvel at all the canned foods – peaches, tomatoes, beans, beets – it was colorful and incredible. I have never tried to do it myself, and I suppose what’s holding me back is more related to the cleaning and sanitizing aspect of canning. I’ve read so many blogs and articles about it that it’s made me quite intimidated.

I made cheese once. I was making paneer tikka makhani. I burned the milk on the bottom of my best pot. I put some soapy water into the pot and set it aside to soak. Somehow, the pot ended up on my back deck (perhaps moved by a roommate). When I discovered the pot months later it was no longer usable. I have been intimidated by cheese-making ever since!

I’ve made ice cream and butter once, and it was a lot of hard work but in the end was great to have. The best thing I’ve made was home made jams with my mom. It is the best thing to have, just because you know, no one has this flavor like chocolate raspberry, or strawberry jalapeno, and it’s makes me smile every time I get a new jar in the mail from her. I’ve made plans to make my own here seeing as I now have the jars and pans to work on canning my own jams. Also with making my own homemade bread it’s just going to make it even better.

I use to can 60 quarts each of green beans, tomatoes and homemade soup every year, but haven’t had the time to do it for the last few. I have made ice cream before too, and my boyfriend makes the best homemade vanilla ice cream ever. Thanks, Angela

I did pickling last year and my friend helped. She cut the green tomatoes too small and added too much sugar. The pickled green beans were so salty you can’t even eat them. What a waste. Wish I had some great receipes to work from. thanks

I have yet to can, but we are doing a crop share with our neighbors this year, and I’d like to get the low-down before I dive in 🙂 I plan to make a ton of ice cream this year as I have a few good recipes, these books would help me achieve my goal of buying less and making more!

Oh yes, please! I’m a canner. Love to hear that gratifying ‘pop’ of the lids as they seal on the counter. Have been canning applesauce, pears, and jam for a few years now, and last year tried my hand at tomatoes. Would love to learn some new techniques for new foods. And I’ve been itching to try to make my own yogurt and ice cream but never had enough nerve — or the right book! =) Thanks.

Ice cream is wonderful to make, but not something I’ve done very often. Would really like to get back to basics and learn how to can since we are gardening this year to help with the budget. Canning would help even more!

My mom has done tons of canning over the years. I can hear the sound of the pressure cooker now & taste the wonderful home-grown, home canned green beans! YUM!!! My sister has made strawberry freezer jam. I haven’t done any canning yet. I’d love to try – especially if I had these wayyyy cool books!! Thanks for the chance!! 🙂

As part of a lifestyle change to eating healthy, I would also like to grow my own food and begin making for myself, many of the items I currently buy at the grocery store. These books look like a great reference to have. Thanks!

I make ice cream with my family a lot. I want to start canning. I’m waiting to get my own house so I can have a garden. I’m finishing up school right now, so I’m looking forward to starting canning next year!!!

i have always wanted to make my own cheese and jams. I love trying different types of cheeses and have never tried making it because I haven’t found a goof recipe. I love homemade products because I know what it in it!

Glat to “meet” you. I’ve only made ice cream as a child but it was the very best ice cream I’ve ever had. I have a small vegetable garden and always wanted to learn how to can fruits and vegetables like my grandmother used to. I think I am just afraid I might make a mistake and end up sending everyone to the hospital.

This is a great giveaway! My family has made ice cream before, but I’d like to try out so much more “homemade living.” I’ve been wanting to make cheese and yogurt for quite some time, and canning is something I’ve been fascinated by for years, too!

I used to make yogurt with my brother -but it has been many many years. I have the jars to make some jam, but the berries are in the freezer and the jars are in the box. The weekend i planned to do it was 90+ degrees (no a/c) and the next weekend i had I got sick – just need to find a new weekend! i do freeze a lot of sauce and veggies and such.

I’ve wanted to make my own yogurt and butter before but haven’t had the courage. I have however canned before. And after canning 18 jars of homegrown cucumbers, and having almost scolding hot water burn my eyes and a messy counter, I’ve grown to NOT like pickles…hana but I still like vinegar and cucumbers. I WOULD LOVE TO WIN THIS BOOK! Does is show you how to spin and dye.your own cotton? 😉

We used to make ice cream all the time on Easter Sunday, all my cousins would be at our house for Easter so there were lots of extra arms to twist the handle! We (my husband and I) bought an electric ice cream maker a couple years ago but it just isn’t the same! Nothing tastes better than homemade ice cream…the you cranked the handle on yourself!

I’ve tried my own canning, but only stuff that’s very acidic (like salsa or lemons). I’d love to learn how to use a pressure canner, or make my own cheese! I even live down the street from a dairy that sells “raw” milk! Thanks for the giveaway!

I’ve actually made all of the above! We make ice cream and yogurt fairly regularly. Butter is rarer, But my hubby loves making cheese. I’ve made the easy stuff, but he’s got some Parmesan and cheddar aging right now. Canning, though? I need lots of help there!

I’ve made my own ice cream, pickles, canned bruschetta and apple butter. My birthday gift last year from my husband was an awesome canning set. I LOVE being self-sufficient and having the opportunity to control the ingredients!

I have made butter before (delish!!), and we intended to make many things last summer (canned tomatoes and green beans, ice cream), but intimidation prevailed, and all we did was make some blueberry preserves. I would love to be able to enjoy the fruits of our garden all winter long!

Every year I experiment with making all kinda of abstract jellies and jams. I have yet to use my pressure canner though and for some reason have a fear that it will blow up…. kinda silly but, who knows right? The idea of making my own cheese has never crossed my mind until now, I’m guessing the rest of my day will be filled with researching the topic and trying it out! It just sounds soooo fun!!

I saw these books in a craft store, and really want these both!
Anyways, I’ve made ice cream way back in a school trip camp using cream and sugar and flavoring in a ziplok bag and then put in another ziplock but but larger filled with ice and salt and tossed the bags around until the ice cream set. I remember thinking it was so delicious and also proud that I made ice cream. So many things amazed me back then, and I still find myself amazed everyday with other things. I also tried canning once, and I want to say I did alright! I made a red pepper relish last winter holiday and canned 6 containers via a potful of boiling hot water! So much to learn though! Maybe I will get fancy and get some canning supplies 🙂

I love to be in the kitchen and one of my new favorite things to make is ice cream…mmmmmmm… Its also a house favorite! I would love to get into canning as it was something that I grew up participating in, but I just haven’t had the space to do it on my own. Hopefully someday I can carry on my mom’s tradition of canning peaches and making pickles.

My husband and I started an endeavor 2 years ago towards becoming self-sufficient, or as self-sufficient as one can become these days! anyway, gardening and setting up a small fruit orchard was the first order of business, then the chickens for eggs and meat. this year was the addition of 2 pigs. I have been canning/freezing everything in sight, with great success, but now on to new goals…wow, cheese, butter, yogurt. especially the butter and yogurt. those are daily items on our food chain!

I’ve had loads of fun making ice cream, it’s a huge hit especially at sleep-overs. My favorite kind is probably the chai ice cream, in close second with the nutella swirl.

I have an obsession with fruit trees. I’ve always wanted to have an apple tree, and used to daydream about canning applesauce, apple-butter and even making vinegar. I was a strange child, but then again I was homeschoooled so I fit in with my friends. 😛

I have made butter at my daughters school and it was fabulous. I would like to try canning because I moved into a house with a peach tree and I have started a victory garden this year. I love the opportunity to learn more and canning is on my list of things to learn this year.

No, I’ve never made cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or butter, but want to learn! I’ve made strawberry jam, but want to learn to can this summer. Lack of time in the past and all the “horror” stories about what can go wrong with canning have held me back…but no longer!

I have made homemade yogurt, very good, would like to learn to make cheese. I learned to can from my Mother and can tomates,vegetables, fruit , jams and jellies,soup and anything else I can. I’m always looking for new cookbooks on canning and found the yogurt recipe on the yogurt maker so new books are always a exciting find in our house.

Yes, I HAVE made my own yogurt!!! WOW!!! Was it good!!! BUT, I would like to know HOW TO do it without having to buy those little packets of starter!!! As for butter? I remember making some in school! A jar was passed around & we all shook it up…. making butter! Of course, we all got a sample! YUM!!! :)As for canning, I’ve done only a little! Pepper Jelly! It still seems quite intimidating to me!!!!!!!

I make homemade ice cream all the time in the summer — with fresh fruit — cant be beat. I win awards for this ice cream!! I have “put up” pickles and jelly. Found it to be a lot of work. Would love to do more!! So fun to open the pantry and see the shiny glass jars full of summer goodness — in the dead of winter.

We used to make a lot of ice cream when I was a kid and my mom canned every fall. Now that I’m an adult I feel like I don’t have enough time for canning, but with a new garden planted this might be the year I try 🙂

I have made my own ice cream with the old fashioned “human powered” maker. Chocolate is my fave. I have canned everything from jams, jellies, butters, veggies, sauces, pickles. I’ve also frozen lots too! IMHO it’s the healthiest, most cost effective way to do things! I would love to have both copies.

Yes I have done home canning. One summer me and my partner canned 108 quarts of tomatoes, and 48 pint jars of grape jam and jelly. We have about 20 pounds of black berries in the freezer and about the same in cherries. I made ice cream a few times till my ice maker broke. Thanks for the giveaway.

I’ve canned since I was a teenager, it was a dying art then. New canning books are always facinating….as for the dairy. We have goats and I’m starting to look into learning to make cheese, this book would be fabulous!

I’ve never made any of my own dairy products, but I certainly would love to give it a try! I’ve never canned before either, but do have hopes of trying that for the first time in the coming months. I would so love to win these books, thank you so much!

I use to watch my grandmother, mom and aunts can when I was young and now as an adult has always wanted to learn but now both my grandmother and mom are no longer alive I didn’t have them to learn from, not sure that just a receipe would show me how. These books look really interesting and would love to win them and finally learn what I’ve always dreamed of. Thanks for the giveaway.

We have made ice cream many times and it’s yummy! I have wanted to make yogurt but have never had the nerve. I tried canning a long time ago but it was a dismal failure. My green beans spoiled, my pickles were limp, and the jam wasn’t eaten. Maybe I need lessons!

I hope to learn how to can once we get our own home. When i was younger, my grandparents had a HUGE garden, almost a 1/4 acre, just for food, and they canned, preserved, dried everything, and I want to get back to that, as soon as we save up for a down payment on our house. We ate so healthy, Grannie always sent us to the garden for “snack time”, she said eat what ever we wanted, if it spoiled our dinner, she still knew that it was a nutritious packed meal…..

Yes! I really enjoy making yogurt and ice cream… Butter is fun as a little hobby project, but I don’t make enough to actually use for baking, etc. Making homemade dairy products and storing in reusable containers sure beats paying top dollar for organic at the grocery store and then having to recycle all that plastic.

A former city slicker, my husband, two daughters and I now live on a farm. We have a large vegetable garden and love to grow our own organic produce. On warm summer nights, my hubby and I put the girls to bed and do our canning together. It is wonderful time spent together and equally rewarding having a basement full of goodies to eat all winter. There is always more canning recipes to learn and try.

A farmer near us raises goats. I have visions of goat cheese this summer!

I have made butter and this year I canned my own pickles and jam…I used to help my mom can all the time when I was growing up! Thanks for the giveaway! I REALLY want these books…if I don’t win I plan on buying them!

Last year was our first year at gardening, we decided to also try canning for the first time. The only thing we were able to do was the pickles! I must admist though, I am very excited to get everything going this year, and hoping for a much better outcome!

I have actually made my own butter quite a few times in a blender and I and use a lot of home remedies, like plantain and yarrow for wounds, along with essential oils. I believe the more natural, the better!

I would absolutely love these books!! I have made ice cream and accidentally made butter. I have not been brave enough to try yogurt yet, but I really want to! I have not tried canning yet, but my grandmother-in-law recently gave me a bunch of canning stuff to get started but I’m not sure what to do with all of it, I guess I will have to figure it out in a few months because I have several fruit trees in my yard!

We made cheese and yogurt back in the 70’s with a kit but haven’t done any since then. We are now retired and have the time to try it once again. I remember that the yogurt was wonderful!
We’ve always had a nice garden and I have done more canning these past few years and am always looking for newer recipes and ideas for our bountiful produce! I’d love to use these books!

Wow! These books look exciting. I have made my own ice cream and I love to can my veggies but that is about it. I have often wanted to make yogurt or butter but never took that desire to the next step. These books could very well help me make that next step.

tried canning and hubby and i are going work on canning this year . with food going sky hi we all need to learn it more and how have our on gardens to. happy craft month thank all for the great give aways

I regularly make my own yogurt, I’ve successfully made ice cream,and I’ve even canned (with a lot of help). The reason I need these books is for the cheese making. I attempted to make mozzarella cheese about a year ago, and it was a complete and “udder” disaster (haha… ugh). I even spent way too much on special ingredients. That was the nastiest $30’s worth of cheese I’ve ever attempted to consume.

We used to have a neighborhood block party for the fourth of July when I was a kid and there was always homemade ice cream. Looking back at it now, I realize was a form of child labor because guess who did all of the cranking…us kids. That’s ok I suppose, we did get first dibs on the goods 🙂 Just gave canning a try too this fall in the form of jam!

I’ve made homemade ice cream (I’ve also made some horrible things that were supposed to be ice cream =/) but I’ve been wanting to can for years, the only thing holding me back is the knowledge. My grandmother’s always warned how sick you could become if not done right.

YEP! I do make my own yogurt, fresh cheese and butter when there is extra milk. Ice creams its been a while but need to start making as our son is ice cream crazy! I also want to start canning but ever since my Mother whom canned EVERYTHING, had a bit of an explosion, I have been a bit leary doing it myself…but would like to give it a go anyway.

I think I tried to make ice cream once. It isn’t very memorable so it must not have come out very good. I’ve never tried canning but I want to really bad. I love the thought of being self sufficient through the winter months and growing your own stuff in the summer. I’m all for that!

I’ve made ice cream and butter a few times…like,like, like. The butter is usually made as a kid activity to teach how it’s done. My son wanted to learn how to make cheese, so on his own at 14, he found a recipe and made it…a very plain white cheese and sampled it to his friends. We all enjoyed learning along with him. I’ve always wanted to learn canning, but haven’t troubled to buy the equipment or make the time.

I always thought making cheese or butter would be very complicated, but having read some articles about it lately I’d love to try! We always made jam with fruit every autumn when I was younger, now that I’ve moved thousands of miles away I miss my parents’ jam a lot!

I have yet to make my own cheese or yogurt however, I’m ready to get down and dirty in some curds. I’ve just started to dip my toe into canning and preserving but I’m feeling the need to pickle everything in sight.

I don’t currently do much with dairy but would love to – cheeses, please! – but do engage in quite a bit of canning. I love making jams and jellies and playing around with canning tomatoes in particular. I own more canning jars than should be allowed…

I grew up with my grandparents’ jams and pickles. Delicious! My dad and I took our first stab at a plum jam when I was in middle school, which turned out to be a giant mess in the kitchen. Since then I have experimented a lot with canning and have found that it’s a lot easier than one might think. My favorite recipe thus far has been a lavender peach butter!

I have yet to try my own cheese or butter, but I’m looking forward to attempting that endeavor soon!

Never made cheese but would love to try it out! It is on my list for new things this year. I have done lots of canning (Tigress Can Jam was the greatest!), yogurt, ice cream and making butter is an annual Thanksgiving tradition that I let the kids do! Love Ashley’s books and would love to have more!

i’ve made ice cream (and fro-yo) but that’s the extent of my kitchen diy-ing. i really want to start canning, but one bad pickle experiment gave me a case of can-fright. i think i’m ready to face my fear, though!

I’m pretty good with a steam canner, but my one attempt at yogurt failed miserably. I’ve made butter and helped/watched a friend make mozzarella, and I’d like to do more with dairy. These books have been on my wishlist for a while!

I love her canning book. She has great recipes that span the entire growing season. I am already looking forward to using her strawberry jam recipe when the berries are ripe. I have just started making homemade yogurt and cheese is next on my list.

I tried making yogurt and LOVED how easy it was and how yummy it was and two weeks later discovered that my two kids are intolerant to dairy and soy. BUT…this year, we have planted a huge garden with the hopes of canning for the first time. I would love to get a copy of this book on my counter while I’m tackling the harvest!!

I’d love to learn to make cheese, I make my own yogurt all the time and I love it! We are in the process of moving but once I’m all settled back in I can’t wait to get canning and maybe start making my own wine!

This will be my first year gardening, and I’m hoping to get some cabbage of my own for sauerkraut, and some berries for jam (there are strawberries and raspberries already growing on my property from the previous owners).

always wanted to learn to make ricotta! never made anything dairy except a form of ice cream called kulfi (evap & condensed milk & whip, frozen with saffron or cinnamon, YUM). i am definitely a canner – can’t wait for summer!! would love to have ashley’s book(s)!

I’ve always envied my Grandmother’s abilities in canning, but somehow never managed to learn. Now I’m living in a gorgeous rural place with a HUGE garden plot my partner spent most his childhood working black dirt into. the last few years we haven’t gotten anywhere near it’s potential yields, but now that the kids are a little older this is the year! We have jars left over from relatives, and I keep thinking of things the kids would love to see/help make! Thanks for the chance at good sounding books!

I started my adventures in canning a couple of years ago and I’m hooked! I am not a jam and jelly kind of a canner, I prefer to can food I can use for meals, including meat! This year I’m growing a huge garden for the express purpose of putting jars of my own food away for us to eat throughout the year.

I made butter and ice cream as a school girl in Home-Ec. I would love to learn how to make it for our daily use. And to be able to make my own cheese? Heaven!

I started canning last summer after attending one of Ashley’s workshops, and I love her canning book. (Of course, if I won I would pass it along to a friend. :)) I’ve also done yogurt and I have a brand new ice cream maker that needs some more use. 🙂

I have never tried pressure canning– I’m afraid of it! I hope to conquer that fear soon. I have attempted cheese (but it failed miserably– my fault for using our (chlorinated) tap water AND reading the thermometer wrong– ha! And I majored in chemistry!) I would love to have the whole collection of Ashley’s books!

I’m falling fast in love with dairy making. I’ve been trying my hand at yogurt – still limited success though – and just helped my friend make some mozzarella. What fun when those curds turned into stretchy shiny cheese!!! Would love to try more and would love the help of a great book!

I started canning late last year and Ashley English’s book on canning was one of the books that spurred me onward to try new and different things. I love making foods for people to enjoy as well as trying to become as self-sustainable as possible, living in Tampa, FL in an apartment with two other people. I’ve been ogling her new books in the Homemade Living series since I heard about them. I’d love to make my own cheeses and yogurts and give them away to my friends and family! Baking, canning, cooking for other people just makes being in the kitchen so much more joyful than just doing it for yourself.

I would love to learn more about making homemade dairy and canning! I’ve enjoyed making ice cream and cheesecake with fresh farm milk in the past and would love to learn how to make cheese. I’m still daunted by canning, but would really like to learn. Thanks for the contest!

I make keifer every day from 2% milk.
Would love to have an easy instructional cheese book as I live 1 mile away from a Vermont raw milk source. Might venture into canning this summer if i had an easy book……and if the deer dont eat all my veggies first!

I make my own yogurt, but would love to try making my own butter and cheese. Last year was my first year canning and I went a little overboard! I made vanilla strawberry jam, blueberry jam, peach jam, blackberry jam, honey apple jam, salsa, corn relish, and apple pie filling. Whew.

i have friends who can and i’m looking for a great book so i can start canning myself. thanks for the giveaway. i don’t currently can because i have space issues, which will hopefully be resolved soon. =)

Although I do not have the home canning book, I have made Ashley’s Kumquat marmalade with chinese 5 spice powder and it is great. Even my sister who is skeptical of anise loved it!
This same sister gave me a cheese making kit for Christmas this year, but I have not taken the plunge yet.

We’ve made tons of ice cream but would really like to try yogurt or cheese! I tend to get overwhelmed by the instructions with too many words! I like it simple and to the point which is probably why I haven’t tried it yet.
Thanks for the give away!

I just made my first batch of cream cheese, and salsa! I used to make strawberry jam and want to start making and canning lots of different things with local ingredients so I know what we are eating and where it came from!

I recently happened upon a swarm of bees and that quickly, I became a bee keeper. Not knowing anything about bee keeping I headed to the local library and checked out the Ashley English book “Keeping Bees”. I am certain that the reading of this book is the only real reason that my hive has survived this long. My hope is to continue to increase the number of hives I have and to one day be able to sell locally produced honey.

Today I was looking to purchase this book and decided to see what else she has published. I have tried to make bread and butter pickles and homemade tomato sauce. Now I am looking to expand my canning experience. There is no doubt in my mind that this book will be just as informative as her book on keeping bees.